Fiction Friday - Who We Really Are

Angelina felt lost. Or rather, that she had lost a part of herself.

This wasn't new. It was just a new question.

"Angelina? Did you hear me?" She had accidentally fallen into therapy a couple weeks ago. Counseling. Whatever you want to call it. "I asked you who you are. So, if you don't feel like yourself, who are you?"

At least Ty was casual. She wasn't lying on a couch somewhere in a cold office full of manipulative props and thick books. They talked in different places. This time they were in a park. They had to-go cups from the coffee shop on the main road a block away and sat side-by-side on a park bench, facing a pond. 

Since they were both facing the pond, he had no reason to take it personally when her eyes rolled up to her eyebrows and she sighed a deep groan. A thoughtful sip of her hot, foamy, latte gave her a moment to word her answer in an un-snarky way. (Because the "if you don't feel like yourself, who are you" schtick was uber-annoying and Angelina was inclined to respond to annoying with snark, she needed the moment.)

In the end her best response, she decided, was a shrug.

"Come on," he urged. "Think about it. I've got time."

So she thought.

"It's not that I'm someone else. I'm just not my whole self."

"Ah, that's better. More accurate. So you're mostly you. Then what's missing? What is less than whole?" He quickly reworded the question. "Or perhaps a better place to start is: What is still you?" She groaned. "Start with the easy stuff. You still look like yourself to me."

"Okay, yes, physically I'm me." This was pointless. How did she get suckered into talking with Ty that first time? Angelina turned to face him then and looked him squarely in the eyes. "Are you saying you've never woken up in the morning and felt like you're just not your best self? It's that, only it's lasted for a while this time."

He was nodding as he watched her face come to life while she talked. "Good. And yes, I have."

"So you get it. So what are we talking about?"

A smile graced his face as he said, "We were talking to get you realize it. And you have. Are you good?"

Angelina frowned in confusion. "Duh. I always was. I don't know why we keep talking about me. You're the one who's nuts."

Ty nodded once and rose to stand before the bench. "Indeed. Enjoy your day." With that he walked off, leaving her to stare open-mouthed at his receding back.

Soon her friend Lisa took Ty's spot on the bench. "Thank god. How'd you shake him? Why've you been talking to him so much, anyway?"

"What do you mean? Ty? He's, like, my counselor or whatever."

"That homeless guy? No he's not. He follows people into the coffee shop for free coffee and convo." Lisa was looking toward where Ty had disappeared around in a bend in the path. She didn't see Angelina's jaw drop. "Harmless, I guess. I just didn't think you'd fall for it."

It's FICTION FRIDAY!

Every Friday I write a new flash fiction piece. If you have a writing prompt you'd like to see turned into a story, just leave it in a comment.